Husband wants name added on house

[Yanique2580]

Hi everyone
I moved into my house, which i bought with my own money with savings and the sale of my flat. My husband was struggling financially at the time so coudnt contribute anything towards the house we now live in. The house is in my name. However, the house needed renovating and my husband put in 2 new bathrooms and a kitchen , and has done most of the renovations. We went out for dinner the other night and he asked if I could add his name to the house. I told him I would think about it. Im grateful for the work he has done but I saved my own money and used the sale of my flat to afford a mortgage for the house. Also he recently added me to his insurance, as it meant I could use his car , as he used to have anxiety about driving. He had 3 years of struggling with jobs and turning down job offers because he didn't want to sit in traffic or 1drive to far, but I stood by him. He asked me the other day if I could give him money for my car insurance as it comes out of his account because its joint in his name. I asked him why he coudnt help me with 75 pounds a month and he said do you want to change to having your own insurance.🙄 To be honest I really don't want to add his name to the mortgage.

Why did you bother getting married if you are keeping your finances and property this separated? You could have just had a relationship without the marriage.

Is this a joke? Of course he should be added on! You're married and it's HIS house legally too! Added to that he added 2 bathrooms and remodeled the kitchen! What is wrong with you? You don't seem to love him and see your marriage and assets as 50-50 do you. I really hope this is a windup. It has to be. No one could be such a cheek chancer otherwise. If this is true I hope he takes you to the cleaners!

My DH has pretty much paid for our home single handedly. Still has my name on it.

The family home should be jointly owned

The house I owned was in my name & the first thing exh did when we split up was register his marital right with the land registry. He hadn't paid a penny towards the mortgage, any home improvements or any of the contents in the house, he barely contributed to the bills yet he expected to get half the proceeds. When he finally moved out he turned all the heating off so the pipes froze & burst & the boiler split, the whole property was flooded, ceilings came down & then the walls went mouldy, I had to pay to have everything put right, the walls & ceilings recorded & plastered, a new boiler, I asked him for half the cost of getting it done as because the house was empty it wasn't insured, funnily enough after that he couldn't get his marital rights removed fast enough.

i wouldn’t add him if he’s not paying the mortgage.

I believe transferring ownership incurs stamp duty, even giving half to your DH. You may want to check this.

It's a mystery to me why people marry if they don't intend to stay together forever. If you're planning to remain a partnership till death parts you, why wouldn't you put his name on the house?

IMO you should not get married unless both parties are willing to share all finances and assets - otherwise what's the point? Might as well stay legally separate

Ring fence your contribution.

I think unfortunately,in the event of a split ,he would be entitled to some money from the house , despite it not being in his name ,as you have only been married 4 years ,I doubt it would be half
I don't understand why you didn't stay single if you didn't want to share everything financially.
If you don't want his name on the deeds or him getting half in a divorce..you need legal advice quickly
This would of been so much easier if you hadn't married him
But I bet the best way forward is a divorce,as it's only been 4 years ,I can't imagine he would get half the house ..but in 10 years he might

He will get part of the house if you separate as you’re married. Suggest you get a solicitor to sort out a deed to protect your shares.

Is this a reverse? Youre the husband, whose wife wants to be on the deeds?

Why did you get married? Genuine question.

Because in short, the whole point of marriage is declaring ‘I want to be legally tied to you and share everything I have with you’ - if you actually don’t want that, which is totally fair enough, then you could’ve remained unmarried.

This. You have married him so legally you have agreed to shared ownership anyway. You need legal advice asap.

Does that include the mortgage?

If you are married it's not an unreasonable ask op. It's half his anyway now. Also it you are married why would you not want to share? If this thread was the other way around you would be getting told to leave him for refusing to add you into the mortgage! If you're reluctant because you want a divorce ( which is where this is headed id you refuse) then get legal advice now.

OP

This’s is simply bizarre and even your post is inconsistent. I’m not even going to go into your relationship for now, let’s focus on the point you raised.

To clarify, first you say

”asked to add his name to the house” then later you say “I don’t want to add his name to the mortgage”

these are two different things.

Which and why.

Not necessarily. Depends where you live

In Scotland he'd be entitled to half the increase in value of the house since the date of narriage, not since the purchase

I really don't want to add his name to the mortgage
This is your answer. Just say I used the money from the sale of my flat to buy it and it was always to be in my sole name.

I know others are saying you are on shaky ground because you are married but I’d rather have the deeds in my sole name regardless.

The house it is not really yours till the mortgage is fully paid. You own a mortgage; so debt. I would not add any family member to the mortgage, why sharing the debt? But have them as benefitiaries of the life insurance/ pensions and whatever else you have and have them named in a will. So they actually get the actual house if anything happens to me, instead of inheriting a mortgage?

But she bought the house whilst they were married. It's definitely a marital asset, regardless of who paid what.

Edited to add that OP said they have been married 4 years and she bought the house a year ago.

Exactly! ‘Get married so you get half of everything!!’ Or ‘Don’t get married! He’ll get half of everything!’

You can tell him it’s a pointless exercise because under English Welsh law it’s 50% his anyway

You bought it during marriage and he has significantly contributed to the house via the extensive renovations he has done on it, so he will have a stake in the property whether you put his name on or not.

Unless you legally ring fenced the money you put into the house, it’s half his (as a starting point) if you divorce.